Jordan takes part in Lausanne meeting on Syria

LAUSANNE — Jordan on Saturday participated in an international meeting on the Syrian crisis called for by the US and Russia, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The meeting, held in Lausanne in Switzerland, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs Nasser Judeh.

The gathering brought together countries concerned with the Syrian crisis and covered prospects of a comprehensive solution to the conflict, and in it participated Jordan, the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and Qatar. 

The US, Russia and Syria's neighbours discussed new ideas for reviving a ceasefire in the war-torn country.

Secretary of State John Kerry said lower-level officials would be in contact again as early as Monday to flesh out a new agenda, but refused to reveal details of the initiatives. 

Kerry described the meeting as a "brainstorming" session and that despite tensions between the parties, it did not descend into rancour, with all agreeing on the urgency of the crisis.

“I would characterise this as exactly what we wanted,” he told reporters at the Lausanne hotel where he met Judeh and Russian, Iranian, Saudi, Turkish, Egyptian, Iraqi and Qatari envoys.

Kerry welcomed what he said was “a very candid, first time discussion, as open and free-wheeling as this, with all of the key parties at the table simultaneously”.

“There were some difficult moments, where there was obviously tension, but everybody was constructive, he said, of a meeting that included traditional foes Tehran and Riyadh,” he said.

After the Lausanne meeting, Kerry was to fly on to London on Sunday to brief his European allies on the new diplomatic path, which will focus on a smaller number of main players. 

Judeh is scheduled to participate in the London meeting to discuss the situation in Syria in general and in Aleppo in particular, especially after the UN Security Council failed to reach a decisive decision on the situation in Syria.